The Miz Discusses How The WWE Locker Room Hated Him, His WWE Debut, More

Recently, The Miz sat down with Red Carpet Crash to talk about his wrestling career and his upcoming movie The Marine 3 Homefront. Here are some highlights from the interview:

What made him want to get into wrestling: "My entire life has been on TV, in a way. And you know what's cool? The uh, the fact that people saw the dream right from the beginning. Like, when I was on The Real World, before the Real World, I didn't think I could do anything besides go to college, after college go back to Parma, Ohio, you get a family, you get a job, and that's what you do for the rest of your life. And, once I got on The Real World, it made me realize that I could do anything I wanted. So I went back to Parma, I looked myself in the mirror, I remember looking at myself in the mirror and like right next to me on the shelf was a Rock, The Rock, action figure. And I was like, "What do you want to do with your life?" and I saw the thing and I was like, "I've always loved WWE, I want to be a WWE superstar." So I moved to Los Angeles, started training in the independents while doing all those challenges that everyone saw. And at the challenges I was like, "I'm the Miz, I'm the Miz! WWE…can you look me up?"

What his WWE debut was like: "For a year I was in developmental territory, until I was debuted in Portland, Oregon at the Rose Garden Center as the host of Friday Night Smackdown. They wanted me to be the Ryan Seacrest of the WWE. And I was like, you know growing up as a kid, watching Ultimate Warrior and Hulk Hogan, I never dreamed of wanting to be the Ryan Seacrest of the WWE. But, you know what, I'll take whatever I can get."

How he was treated once he made it to Smackdown: "The fans hated me, because WWE is like a fraternity. The locker room hated me. Nobody liked me because I was from a reality show, and I had to earn respect. And that's what I set out to do. I set out to earn respect from not only the WWE Universe, not only the locker room, but everybody. And uh, everyone said I'd be fired within three months. Here I am today, sitting in front of you, 2013, a person that's main evented Wrestlemania, has been WWE Champion, 2 time United States Champion, Intercontinental Champion, 4 time Tag Team Champion, 2 Time Slammy Award Winner, and now starring in a WWE Studios film, The Marine 3 Homefront."